Event Marketing

INTRODUCTION

 Marketing is more than just advertising and

personal selling.
 Involves ‘identifying, anticipating and satisfying
customers’ requirements profitably’.
 Marketing focus starts with customer needs, not
the product.
THE MARKETING CHALLENGE

 The basic challenge that marketers face is finding

creative and innovative ways of:
 recognising and understanding customer needs
 satisfying customer needs
 in a competitive and commercially viable manner.
 Adopting a marketing focus means that the needs
and wants of the customer come first.
THE APPLICATION OF MARKETING TO THE
EVENT INDUSTRY
 Marketing events can be like a matching process.
 It generally involves the segmentation of markets,
that is, dividing customers into various groups based
on age, income, special interest, or some other
characteristics.
 Segmentation is based on detailed market research and
it allows event marketers to identify a target
audience.
 Once identified, it is the needs of this target audience
that drive the marketing process.
 THE APPLICATION OF MARKETING TO THE EVENT INDUSTRY

 Events are services or perhaps more precisely, ‘service

experiences’.
 They generally provide customers with an intangible experience.
 Eg. the excitement of a Grand Prix

 the amusement and enjoyment of a comedy festival

 a community festival that engages the interest of visitors in

some way.
EVENTS AS SERVICES

 It is important to distinguish between the

marketing of products and services. They can be
distinguished in terms of:
 Intangibility
 Simultaneity
 Inseparability

 Heterogeneity

 Perishability
EVENTS AS SERVICES

 Events are perhaps the ultimate in terms of

intangibility and perishability.
 Performances, shows, festivals or contests can’t be
stored and can’t be tested for quality beforehand.
 Event success depends critically on the skills,
attitudes and expertise of human resources.
 Success also depends on the appropriate
application of marketing principles and concepts.
THE IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN RESOURCES

 The quality of products can be improved, worked on

and tested well before a customer ever sees or buys
them. On the other hand, the quality of a service is
only ever tested at the so-called ‘moment of truth’
when a customer actually consumes it.
 The staging of an event represents the
ultimate ‘moment of truth’.
 Event quality depends critically on the ability of key
events people to respond in the right way at the right
time.
KEY MARKETING CONCEPTS

 Marketing as a way of thinking

 applying the marketing concept implies a 100% focus
on what customers want and expect from an event.
 questions about event design should focus on
audience impact rather than what is easiest, what we
are currently best at doing, and so on.
 all aspects of staging the event should focus on
audience engagement, audience involvement,
audience impact and ultimately, audience
satisfaction.
KEY MARKETING CONCEPTS
 Marketing as a way of organising
 from the development of an event concept through to staging
of the event and event shutdown, customer wants, needs and
interests must be paramount
 this involves integrating all aspects of the organisation with
the customer in mind
 the quality of the event needs to be measured from a customer
perspective
 success also needs to be measured and thought of in terms of
customer satisfaction, customer reactions and customer
feedback.
KEY MARKETING CONCEPTS
 Marketing as a set of techniques
 Used to understand customers and their needs
 Market research
 5 C, PEST and SWOT analyses
 Market segmentation
 Identification of target markets
 Positioning the product
 Product development
 Price and ticket program development
 Promotional campaign development
 Evaluation
THE KEY BENEFITS OF MARKETING

 Adopting a marketing philosophy

 Decision-making framework
 Financial implications
 Proposals for funding
 Sponsorship success
 Provide confidence
 Customer focus
 Attractive to potential customers
THE MARKETING MIX
 The 4 Ps
 Product
 Event itself
 Surrounding elements – service, food, theming
 Price
 Set by several factors
 Place
 Venue
 Includes host community and facilities
 Promotion
 Total marketing communication program
THE MARKETING MIX
 The extended marketing mix
 More Ps apply to marketing services
 Participation and people
 Process
 Physical evidence
 Packaging and programming
 Positioning
 Power and partnership
 Public
 Managing the marketing mix
 Need to balance each element for maximum effectiveness
 THE CHALLENGES OF EVENT MARKETING

 Intangibility
 Tangible items – customer knows what they are getting
 Intangible events – rely on expectation
 Place a strong focus on people and organisational image
 Can reduce perceived risk and add value
 The people involved can make a difference
 Use physical evidence
 Photos, websites, merchandise
 Use personal sources of information
 People source information from friends – encourage this.
 THE CHALLENGES OF EVENT MARKETING

 Simultaneity and inseparability

 Events are performed in real time
 No separation between the event and those who
create it
 People have parts to play at all stages
 The pre-purchase stage
 The purchase and pre-event stage
 The staging of the event
 The post-event stage.
ENHANCING CUSTOMER SERVICE
 In the current competitive environment, advantages
gained from lower price, higher quality, and even better
promotion, can be quickly copied and eroded.
 This dilemma can be addressed by offering exceptional
customer service.
 Rather than treating customer service as an additional
service it needs to be treated as a strategic initiative.
 Hence, rather than an emphasis on price, product, place
or promotion, the focus is on the client experience.
ENHANCING CUSTOMER SERVICE
 Exceptional customer service involves:
 Creating an organisational culture which emphasises
the importance of every customer contact
 Continuously improving customer service by listening
to, and acting on, customer feedback
 Maintaining a positive approach to customers as well as
professional and courteous communications.
 Always delivering what is promised and, in fact, seeking
to give customers more than they expect
 Under promise and over deliver
THE PROCESS OF EVENT MARKETING

 Situation analysis
 Developing an understanding of customer needs
 Identifying opportunities for meeting those needs
 Identifying market opportunities
 5 C analysis
 Company
 Competitors
 Customers
 Collaborators
 Climate
THE PROCESS OF EVENT MARKETING

 Situation analysis (continued)

 PEST Analysis
 A focus on the political, economic, social and
technological factors in the external environment
 Additional models have been developed to reflect
changing needs
 SLEPT – social, legal, economic, political, technological
 PESTEL – political, economic, social technological,
environmental, legal
 STEEPLED – social technological, economic, environmental,
political, legal, demographic
THE PROCESS OF EVENT MARKETING

 Situation analysis (continued)

 SWOT analysis
 Should be carried out around the objectives of an event:
 Strengths
 Weaknesses
 Opportunities
 Threats
 Matching strategy – strength matches opportunity
 Conversion strategy – focusing on unpopular events.
THE PROCESS OF EVENT MARKETING
 Marketing strategy development
 Strategies should maximise ticket sales from target
markets
 Allow resources to be utilised most effectively
 Build on information from situation analysis
 Market segmentation
 Targeting specific parts of the market
 Segmentation allows for better use of promotional materials
 Targeting the appropriate market segment
 Tailoring marketing mix to segments most interested
THE PROCESS OF EVENT MARKETING
 Marketing strategy development (continued)
 Positioning the product within the target market
 How the event will fulfil customer needs
 Unique nature of the event
 Consider
 location
 attention span
 competitive costs
 program
 Developing a value proposition for the target market
 Customer value proposition – price-based and value-based
 Needs to line up with customer needs for that segment.
THE PROCESS OF EVENT MARKETING

 Marketing mix decisions

 Product
 Price
 Place
 Promotion
 Participation and people
 Process
 Physical evidence
 Packaging and programming
 Positioning
 Power and partnership
 Public
THE PROCESS OF EVENT MARKETING

 Implementation and control

 While each stage of the event is implemented it
needs to be closely monitored
 Gaps may be identified between planned and
actual results
 Control measures may then be required.
TRENDS IN MARKETING
 A reduced effectiveness of traditional promotional
methods
 Why ?
 fragmentation and saturation of conventional media channels
  Event management is compatible with the new
trends for marketing
 Guerrilla marketing
 Experiential marketing
GUERRILLA MARKETING

 Unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy

and imagination rather than a big marketing budget
EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING
 Cross-media promotional activity which encourages two way
interaction and direct physical immersion into a brand
ADVANTAGES OF EVENT MARKETING AND SPONSORSHIPS

 Minimizes clutter in advertising media.

 Help companies respond to customers’ changing media habits.
 Sponsorships help companies gain approval of its stakeholders.
 Enhance brand equity and image, increase consumer awareness.
 Better chances of tapping target market of specific segments,
regions or lifestyles.